---
layout: docs
page_title: 'nomad eval delete command reference'
description: |
  The `nomad eval delete` command deletes an evaluation by ID or a group of evaluations that match a filter.
---

# `nomad eval delete` command reference

The `eval delete` command is used to delete evaluations. It should be used
cautiously and only in outage situations where there is a large backlog of
evaluations not being processed. During most normal and outage scenarios,
Nomad's reconciliation and state management will handle evaluations as needed.

The eval broker is expected to be paused prior to running this command and
un-paused after. These actions can be performed by the
[`operator scheduler get-config`][scheduler_get_config]
and [`operator scheduler set-config`][scheduler_set_config] commands respectively.

## Usage

```plaintext
nomad eval delete [options] [args]
```

It takes an optional argument which is the ID of the evaluation to delete. If
the evaluation ID is omitted, this command will use the filter flag to identify
and delete a set of evaluations.

When ACLs are enabled, this command requires a `management` token.

## Options

- `-filter`: Specifies an expression used to filter evaluations by for
  deletion. When using this flag, it is advisable to ensure the syntax is
  correct using the eval list command first. Note that deleting evals by filter
  is imprecise: for sets of evals larger than a single raft log batch, evals can
  be inserted behind the cursor and therefore be missed.

- `-yes`: Bypass the confirmation prompt if an evaluation ID was not provided.

## Examples

Delete an evaluation using its ID:

```shell-session
$ nomad eval delete 9ecffbba-73be-d909-5d7e-ac2694c10e0c
Successfully deleted 1 evaluation
```

Delete all evaluations with status `pending` for the `example` job:

```shell-session
$ nomad eval delete -filter='Status == "pending" and JobID == "example"'
Are you sure you want to delete 3 evals? [y/N] y

Successfully deleted 3 evaluations
```

Delete all evaluations for the `system` and `service` whilst skipping all
prompts:

```shell-session
$ nomad eval delete -filter='Scheduler == "system" or Scheduler == "service"' -yes
Successfully deleted 23 evaluations
```

## General options

@include 'general_options.mdx'

[scheduler_get_config]: /nomad/commands/operator/scheduler/get-config
[scheduler_set_config]: /nomad/commands/operator/scheduler/set-config
